Airship.



59155., sin

-asogvsa rom), acitizen ,of the United States, residing the following isaspeciication.

. primary object an air ship of this character.

which willenibody novel' and nsefulmeans for ascending and alighting.

4To all it ma'y concern:

wiLLIAM-J. n. nnnnronn, vorv KILLEEN, Taxes.

Arnsnrr.

Specication of Letters Patent.

Application led August 7,

1909. 'se'riai No. 511,750.

Beit known that I, WILLIAM J. BRAD- at Killeen, in the county of Belland'State. of` Texas, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Airships, of which.

This invention comprehends'certain new and useful' improvements in1airships'of the dirigible type, and the inventionhas for its A. furtherobject of theinvention'is an-air shiprof this character' embodying aplurality'of cylindrical gas containers so con-.

:fgvnected together that the pressure will be at yall'times equalized.And" theinvention also has for. its' object a diri ible air ship whichwill b'e light, .strong an durable and capable of being easilysteredftotheright; or

' fleft; or up` and down, the device embodying propellers at the frontoft-the main or' body portion of theair ship, and a rudder at the y.rearof suclibody v being moved upwar ortion,v the Apropellers ly ordownwardly so as..to cause the air ship to rise or descend,

and therudderat the stern being also-ca- 1 pable of being shifted to theright or to the leftand up. and down so as to assist in the steeringoperation. And the invention also has for 'its object, a machine of thischarac` ter,- all of the parts of which including the driving means maybe under the control of.,v

-' one driver.

ith these and otherobjccts in viewv as Awillmore fully appear as thedescription proceeds, the inventionconsists in certainconstructions,:arrangements 'and combinations of the paits that I- shallhereinafter fully describe 'and claim.

For a full understanding of .the invention, reference is to bev had tothe' following description and"accornpany1ng drawings in' which: Figure1 isa perspectiveview of a flying machine Aor air st np constructedinaccor ance with my invention; Fig. 2- is a top plan view of the bodyportion; Fig. 3 is a titansverse sectional View; and, Fig. is alongitudinal view` illustrating the-means 'oradjusting the propellershafts.

Corresponding and like partsare referred to in' the followingdescription and indicated in all the views of the accompanying.

" and over correspo drawings by the same reference characters.

The main or body portion of my improved air ship embodies twocylindrical containers 1 that are ranged alongsideof each other with aspace betweenior thecar to support the motor and steering apparatuslwhich are supported thereon refera'bly' below the ter of gravityofft 'e`containers so as' to assist in maintaining the4 stability' of theapparatus.' The details ofjtl 1'e=car are not herein shown. as theyPatented J an, 1911.

present invention; Tliejcontainer's-1' are preferably tapering altitheir bow or forward ends asindicated at 1* 2 designates thepropellerafshafts .-.In thel pre'sent instance, these are 'twofjnnumber. .and theyv extend longitndinallyf- Projecting beyond the.forward n cylindrical containers ulfafnd."'being provided attheir'forward endsgwithfprope lersSv and 4. whichare arranged inopposite directions. 'The rear ends'ofthe propeller shafts 2 are`jonrnaled" in vbearing I brackets `5 that are preferablyisecured to thefront and intermediate* ofthev frames. 6 serving to strengthenthe.'structure. There is'yalso a rear frame' designated 7.'These'jfrontconnecting frames 6 and rear Aconneetin frame 7 arepreferably strengthened by ia onal braces 8 as clearly'illnstrated inthe wany desired way. In vfthe present lembodiment of the invention,they are rotated by means of belts 9 passedover 'p11'lleys10 secured' tothe' rear extremities ofthe 1shafts j riding. plle'yfs''ll secured onthe shafts ofthe motor-12 whichjmay be Aof any 'desired construction ortypes. In or,

der tov turnthe shaftsZ 'in loppositefdire tions, the shafts ofthe motorare provided V with meshingpinions.13.-I Il` I propo'seto raise:andfflower the, pro ellers 3 and 4 so as to'eii'ectpan upwa'r or'downward movement of the yair'ship, and for lot this purpose/thepropeller-shafts `2'are -constructed infront and rear sections connectedtogether by universal joints 111. ".The for,

ward'seetions of fthe-'propellerv shafts 2 are .connected together by across-rod 15 andare' also connected by-llinks 16 to the cranks 17 of atransversely extending'shaft 18. This crank shaft lis jonrnaled'torotate about its longitudinal-axi'sffas indicated inthe draw-- ing, and'carries at 'an' intermediate-point, a

Wheel 19.- Cordsfor cablesf20 pass around this wheellgandlextendrearwardly to the f...;28like the hand ever. 22. l

-30 -the rudder to the right or to the left, the

'1 'plane 23 has' secured Ato it on opposite sides interior of thetcarwhere theyareI-secured4 just enoughto suspend their` owniwe'ight' to anactuating wheel 21 arranged to rotate about a horizontal axis andoperated by'a hand lever 22 provided with a detent designed forlockingengagement with a quadrant. By swinging the hand lever 22 it is clearthat the propellers 3 and Il will be inclined upwardly thereby causingthe air shipY to ascend as it is propelled in a forward directlon, and areverse movement of the hand. lever 22 will cause the Propellers 3 and 4to drop so as to impart a downwardly inclined movement of the air ship.The rear A rudder of the air ship is composed of two arrange 'horizontaland the other vertical as` shown; .The. two. planes 23 -and 21l-aretogether hingedly connected' to the rear of' the machinelas vindicatedat' 25 so thatthe entire ruddermay b'swun horizontally or. vertically.In order to e ect the up andA down movement ofthe rudder, the plane 24has 'connected to it -at opposite sides of the plane 23 .cords or cables'26- which extend 25 through openings in'the rear frame of the Abodyfportionfof the air ship. and pass around .tand are securedlto anactuating wheel 27,

theisamebeing rovided with a hand lever of thepla'ne M, correspondingcords oreal fbl\es 29 Awhich also pass forwardly through gpidebpeningsformed inthe rear frame of 3,5 t machine and around pulleys 30, the'cords being connected at thelr forward ends tol a longitudinallyextending-'drum' 31, the shaft f which is'provided with a steerin' .iwheelf32. Thewheels 22,27 and32, area vthe driver'` may easilymanipulate` all of them il In'order the pressure vvvithinieach containermay beit@ l' times equal tothe ressure ,withinthe other, the twocylinricalfcontainers lV are' connected together, preferably bothfrontand rear by pipes or tubes 33 arranged to establish communical tionbetween the interior of b othfcontainers.` In connection with themainbody portion; of my improved air ship', Irhave preferably providedasphericalzxontainer 34Awhich is used..-1`)1n1ari ly` Iin' ascending .andalighting. Cables or ropes 35. are connected at one end to the lower endof the sphericall container i. .`t`l'v'ely, the said ropes passingthrough guideI -openingsfat the front andrear of themain body portionand being both securedto be operat rfrom the main motori-2.l I

bisectin planes 23 and 24C one of' whichis".

Iny order to move set 4close ,to each other side byside'so that.

'.34' and extend dovvnwardly in a Aforwardly 'andrearwardlyinclinedvdirectionrespe'ctransversel .extending drum 36 arranged to` andthat of the burden to be carried at the earths surface or sea -levclbutnot Sulli-l ciently to risc of themselves. The Spherical container 34 isthen niatedsuilioient 'to raise the. machine to the desired altitude.

lifting power and @then by., means' of v the drum the lines 35m-@Woundin cansing fthe .mam body portion of the xnachineto ascend slowly andsteadily. Finally when the desired height is reached, the propellers areput in-motion and the desired 'courseiis taken. In making al descentthelines in the spherical container are allowed to unwindfrom thev drumv36 thus allowing 4the main body portion'of the machine descend to the"earth where it :1s anchored, and the.

'spherical container is then brought 'down-.by I means ofthe cablesorlinesfbingwound Construction of "air'sllpf which willlnake the'opleraticnfof 'ascending andalling' a safe and -steadycne and:'wlii'c'lzija embodies comparatively'f few andsimple partslmhich arestrong end vdurable and so assembled 4and` arranged thats-the 'machinemay 'befeasily 'bothup andfdown orf'to the right or "left, thefconr'selbeing *maintained without f 100 starte any undueundulationsfandwithout any dangerv of tiltin laterally toeany, degree.'

ascribed the invention, what is'olaim'e as'newis;

lnIn a dirigib'lei of a body portion prop' ers .thereby, shafts on'lwhlch sa mounted, saidV shafts being .constructed'in forwardand :rearsectionsl havin'g' ,afgunl-l versal joint connectionwith Seach 'other-)the ody rear lsectionsbeing i journaled on. the

- jourportion,l 'a transversely- A extending V rod naled'in theibod fportiongandarranged to lrotate about itsA ongli'tudinalaxig'a crank erod and the forward connection betweent sections ofthepropeller-fshafts,and means for turni'nv` sai r'o afin s ir'igibie air shi the inbinnionconneo of a' body portion, prope ers 'carried there- 1d:x Propellers are'j mounted, i said shafts v"beingfconstructed in forward and. rearfsect-ions',;. having rotate about its longitudinal axis, a crankv"connection between the rod and the forward sections of the propeller.shaftsi a .wheel mounted on said rod, cables connected to the 'wheeland'e'xteding rearwardly therefrom,

a uni. versal joint connection with each other, the

and u, lfalnd lever arranged to pull on said tion of the' propellerShaft, a pulley mounted on Said rodand secured thereto,l a cableexlLending around said pulley and extending rearwardly therefrom, andmeans carried by the body portion and connected to said cable to turnthe pulley and rod.

Intestimony whereof I afix my signature in presence two witnesses.

WILLIAM .lf-D. BRADFORD. 1-SJ Witnesses WILL RANCIRT, T. C. CLoUn.

